Crocs roar back from destruction

But people still pose a danger, scientist says

Susan CockingKnight Ridder Newspapers

Published Thursday, June 28, 2001

MIAMI -- Tromping through the sand of Key Largo's secluded Madeira Beach, I beheld a truly remarkable sight: the carcass of a half-eaten sawfish lying in one of the prime nesting grounds of the American crocodile.

You could take that as nature's cue card: a member of a species proposed for the endangered list found dead at the home of a species that federal officials want to remove from the endangered list.

Crocodiles must be faring pretty well if they've got the wherewithal to dine on sawfish -- an animal so rare it's being considered for the highest level of federal protection, right?

Biologically, yes; sociologically, no, according to Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife ecologist who has been studying Florida Bay's marine ecosystem since the 1970s.

Mazzotti led me on a tour of the crocodiles' nesting grounds as part of his annual gauge of how well this reptile -- declared endangered in 1975 -- is springing back from near-extinction.

More than 50 nests have been documented in South Florida, mainly in Key Largo, Everglades National Park and Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant.

The number of adults living here is estimated between 600 and 1,000. Those numbers have prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to propose reclassifying the American crocodile as "threatened'' -- a step down in the level of federal protection it now receives.

Mazzotti said this would be OK if you are going strictly by the numbers. He said crocodiles -- nearly absent more than 30 years ago -- live throughout Biscayne Bay. They're seen swimming in manmade canals, basking near golf-course ponds and even soaking in the kiddie pool at Homestead Bayfront Park.

But therein lies the problem.

"Crocodiles are surviving from and leaving nesting areas. If we can't tolerate their presence, then it's just like killing them,'' Mazzotti said. "Intolerance by humans will keep them endangered.''

Mazzotti is concerned the public perception of crocodiles as fierce people-eaters will provoke fear, loathing and the urge to relocate them, taking away their habitat and erasing the population gains they've made.

He believes people should learn to live in peace with the reptiles, which he describes as gentle and nonaggressive.

Mazzotti points out efforts to relocate crocodiles from golf courses don't work. A couple of years ago, golfers complained about a croc that was snoozing on the links at Deering Bay. Wildlife officials deported it to Collier-Seminole State Park, a couple of hundred miles away, but it swam back to its favorite hangout.

Today, as many as nine of the reptiles inhabit the posh golf course.

Lately, a couple of Key Biscayne residents are worried about a croc that uses the Pines Canal, urging it be captured and sent elsewhere. This outrages Mazzotti.

"The crocodile hasn't done anything,'' he said. "You're more likely to drown in the canal than to die from the crocodile.''

Unlike those nervous residents, I was really hoping to spot a croc as Mazzotti and I toured their remote nesting grounds. The only ones I have seen in the wild were lurking beside the Flamingo boat ramp at Everglades National Park, seeking handouts. Unfortunately, I was disappointed this time around.

The only evidence of crocs I encountered were the large, midden-like mounds of sand where females bury their clutches of 40 eggs. And Mazzotti said they likely won't hatch until mid-July.

Mazzotti found one nest at Davis Cove that showed signs of a digging predator -- most likely a raccoon. The scientist and his assistant, Geoff Clark, knelt down and dug into the raccoon holes by hand to see if the marauders had been successful in their quest for fresh eggs. Both holes were empty.

Mazzotti rose.

"There's definitely a clutch of eggs here, but the raccoons didn't find it,'' he pronounced.

He had a very unscientific gleam in his eye.

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(c) 2001, The Miami Herald.

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